MIDWIFERY

At UHL we have many opportunities for Midwives and Maternity Support Workers in our busy and exciting maternity units, with great opportunities for career progression within our teams.

We are a forward thinking team with a philosophy of providing the best possible care to women, babies, and their families. This is achieved by providing effective training, education and working collaboratively as a midwifery and medical team.

Opportunities in Maternity Services

Our maternity services consist of two obstetric consultant led units, the Leicester General Hospital, and the Leicester Royal Infirmary, the latter of which has a tertiary neonatal unit. Our community midwifery services cover the whole of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. This also includes a dedicated home birth team, and a stand-alone birth centre. We have specialist antenatal clinics, antenatal and postnatal wards, maternity assessment units, delivery suites and birth centres at both sites. We run a separate telephone triage service away from the clinical maternity assessment units, have independent elective theatres, and plan to introduce a Day Assessment Unit at the Leicester General Site in the near future

If you would like to discuss joining the Maternity team, contact [email protected]

For hospital queries contact:

The Recruitment, Retention and Pastoral Care Midwives

[email protected]

For Community queries contact:
Emily Wakelin
Community Midwifery Matron

[email protected]

Annabelle Foxwell

[email protected]

Midwifery

We welcome midwives at all stages of their career at UHL and have excellent support packages with preceptorshipdevelopment and clinical leadership opportunities in place to help you thrive in your career.

Maternity Services at UHL are based across two hospitals which facilitate approximately 10,000 births per year. As a tertiary unit, we cover a large geographical area with a diverse population, so working at UHL is exciting, fast-paced and full of opportunity to learn.

For newly qualified midwives, we run a 12-18 month preceptorship programme in both the hospitals and community where you will be supported both clinically and pastorally to develop the confidence and skills you’ll need to progress to a band 6 midwife. You will have an 8-week supernumerary period incorporating training days to support your development (in skills such as suturing and IV drug administration) and our passionate and dedicated recruitment, retention and pastoral care midwives will be present throughout your journey to provide hands-on clinical support. In hospital, you will spend your first year working on delivery suite, in the birth centre and on the wards to build the foundations you need as a safe and competent practitioner. In community you will work within a team towards specific competencies which are relevant to the skills and knowledge needed in this area.

For experienced midwives we offer an enhanced maternity care and simulation day, adult cannulation, midwife-in-charge training and a variety of midwifery related study days. We also help staff to grow and progress with development packages for each grade, including a range of leadership courses.

Over the last couple of years, we have welcomed a team of internationally educated midwives who have brought with them a wealth of diverse knowledge and experience to their work within both the hospitals. 

We have a number of specialist midwifery posts ensuring the women and families within our maternity services receive the best possible care. Our specialist roles cover diabetes, hypertension, safeguarding, teenage pregnancy, multiple pregnancy, maternal medicine, blood borne infections, asylum seekers and homelessness, bereavement, alcohol and substance misuse, perinatal mental health, digital and audit midwives.

We also have an award-winning research team carrying out some of the latest research that in the future could change and enhance maternity care for all.

Midwifery led units

St Mary’s Birth Centre is a free-standing Midwife-led unit situated in the east of Leicestershire in Melton Mowbray. The team is fully integrated, staffing the birth centre 24 hours a day and providing care to a community caseload of approximately 900 bookings. The Birth Centre has approximately 150 births per annum, over 50% being water births and offers aromatherapy and NIPE. St Mary’s Birth Centre has an 8-bedded postnatal ward and approximately 400 women transfer to the centre postnatally each year for locally renowned feeding support. Partner overnight stay is available and the team are proud to boast a continuity rate of 90%.

We have a number of specialist midwifery posts ensuring the women and families within our maternity services receive the best possible care. Our specialist roles cover diabetes, hypertension, safeguarding, teenage pregnancy, blood borne infections, asylum seekers and homelessness, bereavement, alcohol and substance misuse and perinatal mental health.

We also have an award-winning research team carrying out some of the latest research that in the future could change and enhance maternity care for all. There are a number of research studies and further details can be found on our website.

Maternity Support Workers

We have maternity support workers and nursery nurses working within our maternity services. They help to care for mothers, babies and their families working alongside a registered midwife. Maternity support workers work on delivery suite, the wards and maternity assessment units at the Leicester Royal Infirmary and Leicester General Hospital, at St Mary’s birth centre in Melton Mowbray and out in the community.

Career development

We have great opportunities for support worker development whether it is starting out as an apprentice to becoming a Band 3 Maternity Support Worker. You will receive the training required during your induction and you will also be supported to complete the Care Certificate if you haven’t already done so.

Through the apprenticeship levy we can offer you the chance to study for Senior Healthcare Support Worker at Level 3. On successful completion you will gain an apprenticeship standard and Level 3 Diploma in Healthcare Support qualification. We can also support you to gain maths and/or English Level 2 via a local college if you don’t already have these qualifications.

Working Life

We are actively seeking midwives who want to return to practice. Please contact us to discuss working patterns that may be available to support your work/life balance.

Professional Midwifery Advocates (PMA)

Midwifery at UHL has had long and effective support from Supervisors of Midwives and more recently from PMA’s.

The ultimate aim of professional midwifery advocacy using the A-EQUIP model is that through staff empowerment and development, action to improve quality of care becomes an intrinsic part of everyone’s role in every part of the maternity system. UHL currently has 15 PMA’s who can provide persistent, high-quality support and guidance to our midwives and other staff working within maternity.

Colleague Stories: Rachel Darling’s Maternity Journey

“I have already learned so much since joining the team, but this training is an extra string to my bow.”

Discover my Maternity journey

Preceptorship

We have three Recruitment, Retention and Pastoral Midwives working in our maternity units and in community teams to provide clinical support to newly qualified midwives.

Preceptorship is a period to guide and support all newly qualified practitioners in the transition from student to autonomous practitioner. UHL follow the national preceptorship standards for midwifery. We work in collaboration with the UHL School of Nursing and Midwifery and with the local universities to make sure we are supporting our new midwives in the best way that we can.

For more information on our preceptorship programme please see the dedicated preceptorship page within the School of Nursing and Midwifery Practice page.

We have developed a preceptor training programme for our midwives and nurses at UHL to help them develop their skills to support our newly qualified colleagues.

Developing your career at UHL

There are lots of opportunities for career development whilst working as a midwife at UHL.

You may want to become a ward manager or a delivery suite co-ordinator. We have clinical leadership training packages which will give you the necessary knowledge and skills to undertake your role, and you may consider a career within one of our specialist midwifery roles.

Feedback

The preceptorship programme receives excellent feedback and has been presented nationally to highlight the excellent preceptorship package that we offer. We regularly receive feedback that tells us our preceptorship programme is well structured, very thorough and detailed, supports development of competencies, and makes the transition to a Newly Qualified Midwife easier.

Colleague Stories

best career change I ever made

“After almost 30 years in another career and in my late 40s, it was time for a change. 5 years on and with a Level 2 apprenticeship at LRI, lots of hard work, training, and working in various maternity support roles, I am now working as a Band 3 MSW in the community. It is never too late to chase your dream job and I have found mine. Working alongside midwives supporting antenatal and postnatal women and their families is a rewarding career to be part of.”

Rachel Darling, Maternity Support Worker, Mallory Midwifery Team

UHL offers great career development opportunities

“I cannot say thank you enough for all the support, teaching, mentoring and leadership I have experienced throughout the years working at University Hospitals of Leicester. I have met fantastic teachers, inspirational leaders, caring and passionate people. I’ve learned what teamwork is.”

Magda Kierzenkowska, Midwife / Research Development Midwife